Welcome to the Worldwide Greathead family my One-Name Study

The information in this website covers all occurrences of the surname GREATHEAD worldwide, as opposed to a particular pedigree. It also contains the variants GREATHED, GREATED, GRATEHEAD, GREATHEED and GREETHEAD. One day maybe I will discover that we are all related

James HenryGreathead was born on 6 August 1844 in Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.1,2,3,4,6 He was the son of James HenryGreathead and Eliza JuliaWright. He was educated in St Andrews College, Diocesan College, Grahamstown, Cape Town, South Africa, and later in 1859 he came to Westbourne Collegiate school which was part of Kings College, London.7 In the census of 7 April 1861 in 11 Norfolk Villas, Kensington, London, England, he was listed as the son of James HenryGreathead James was a scholar.8 James commenced a pupilage of three year under the Peter W Barlow. On its expiration, he was engaged for a year as an assistant engineer upon the construction of the Midland Railway extension from Bedford to London, under W H Barlow and C B Baker. In 1869 he was entrusted with the construction of the Tower Subway under the River Thames, for this work he constructed the "Greathead Shield" The subway was completed in 1870 and he started work on his own as consulting engineer.7,9 In the census of 2 April 1871 in 63 Trinity Street, St Mary Newington, London, England, he was listed as a lodger and working as a civil engineer.10 In 1873 and for four following years he acted as resident engineer on the Hammersmith Extension Railway and the Richmond Extension of the Metropllitan District Railway. IN 1878 he invented the injector hydrant for fire fighting. He assisted in the preparations for several other projects, namely the Regent's Canal Railway in 1880.7,11 In the census of 3 April 1881 in Coxhorn House, Charlton Kings, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England, he was listed as a visitor of Lovesy family.12 In 1881 he worked on the Metropolitan Outer Circle Railway and in 1883 the new line between London and Eastbourne, and various Irish light railways in 1884. He was engaged in the preparation of the bill for the City and South London Railway. The work started in October 1886 and the line was opened in November 1890 by the Prince of Wales. During the construction of this lne compressed air was employed to prevent the inrush of water; and the success of this plan led to the adoptin in other similar enterprises in which he was engaged. He invented apparatus for the application of water to excavate in front of the shield, and for injecting cement-grout behind the lining of the tunnel.7 In 1884 in the Kelly's London business directory (Alpha Section) there was an entry Jas H Greathead, Civil Engineers, 8 Victoria Chambers, Vetra St. SW.13 He married Blanche Emily CaldecottCoryndon, daughter of SelbyCoryndon and EmilyCaldecott, on 10 July 1884 in St Matthews, Bayswater, London, England, aftre the banns had been read. The ceremony was witnessed by Walter H Greathead, Robert White, Nora Jane Spackman and Annie May Eykyn. James was a civil engineer living in 126 Warwick Street and Blanche lived as 18 Porchester Gardens.14,2,4,6,15,16 From 1885 to 1890 James and his family lived at Birchwood, St Marys Grove, Barnes in London.3 In 1888 he became joint engineer with Sir Douglas Fox for the construction of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, which was visited by members of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers on the occassion of the Liverpool Meeting in 1891.7 James was listed as the head of the family on the census of 5 April 1891 in Ravenscraig, Leigham Court Road, Streatham Hill, London, England, James was a civil engineer, The family also had three servants.17 James was became a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1879 and was also a Member of the Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers.7 He was engaged as joint engineer with W R Galbraith on the Waterloo and City Railway; and on the Central London Railway he was associated with Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. He did not live to see the completion of these undertakings.7 He died on 21 October 1896 in Ravenscraig, Leigham Court Road, Streatham Hill, London, England, aged 52 from Stomach cancer. His business was 15 Victoria Street, Westminster.3,4,6,18,19,2,20 A memorial notice appeared in the Guardian newspaper for James on 24 October 1896. It announce his death at Streatham and went on to say, he had carried out many extensive engineering works, and will be remembered as the pioneer in the system of tunnelling called after him. The City and South London Railway had been in operation about five years, and others were in the course of construction. The ingenious device of the Greathead shield enabled tunnel to be driven under buildings without disturbance, and under rivers wihout danger to the workmen. This and the Greathead grouting machine have made his name known all over the world in connection with engineering enterprise. James was buried that day.21 He was buried on 24 October 1896 in West Norwood Cemetary, Norwood Road, Norwood, London, England, in Grave 27,103, Square 83 His wife was buried with him later in 1913 when she died.2,4,22,23,24,25 The will of James was proved on 29 December 1896 in London to his widow Blanche and Basil Mott a civil engineer. It was dated 14 October 1896 and gave his address as 15 Victoria Street, Westminster and Ravenscraig, Leigham Court Road, Streatham. His effects were valued at £18874 15s 8d.20,26 A Blue Plaque donated by National Heritage to James Henry Greathead was placed on his former home at 3 St Mary's Grove, Barnes, on 18 February 2000. It was attended by Tony Roche (Deputy President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers), Jim Moriarty (Civil Engineer, London Underground), Councillor Michael Jones (Mayor, London Borough of Richmond), Francis Carnwath (Chairman, London Commemorative Plaques Panel, English Heritage), and James Butler (sculptor of the statue of Greathead in the City). The plaque reads "James Henry Greathead 1844-1896 Railway and Tunnelling Engineer lived here 1885-1889". The unveiling was carried out by Jim Greathead, the engineer's grandson.22 In summary::James Henry Greathead a South African born inventor who designed the Greathead Tunneling Shield with which he built a subway beneath the Thames in 1869 to help relieve the street traffic. Using an improved version, he constructed tunnels for the City and South London lines in 1886. A pupil of Peter Barlow FRS designer of St Pancras Station and Railway suspension bridge, near Charing Cross. At the age of twenty-four he was the engineer in charge of the planning tower subway under the Thames. This was the first time the Greathead Shield was used. He then worked on the extentions to the District line. He invented the injected fire hydrant. He was then involved in all major extentions to the underground system. He was consultant engineer for the Blackwall tunnel. He invented the grouting machine used to stop Winchester Cathedral collapsing. He was elected to the Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1894 and awarded the Telford Medal. The Telford Medal is the Institute of Civil Engineer's highest award for a paper. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford (1757 - 1834), the first President (1820). The medal may be awarded for a single paper or for an outstanding series of papers. The medal was handed down to his daughter Mary who swapped it with Mary, her husband Mark's second wife for the gold medal awarded to Mark's father to recognise him being President 1924-5 President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Mark's daughter still holds this Telford medal. A large statue stands of James near the Bank of England beside the Cornhill exchange, very aptly, on a plinth over a ventillation shaft.4,18,27

[S40029] The Genealogist websiteRegister of Births and Baptisms at the Wesleyan Chapel in Holmfirth, Yorkshire from 1792 to 1837, with a Register of Burials from 1814 to 1837 RG4 Piece 3065 Folio 74 and RG5 Piece 194 Folio 174.

[S40029] The Genealogist websiteRegister of Births and Baptisms at the Wesleyan Chapel in Holmfirth, Yorkshire from 1792 to 1837, with a Register of Burials from 1814 to 1837 RG4 Piece 3065 Folio 74 and RG5 Piece 194 Folio 174.

Facts – names, dates, and places – cannot be copyrighted; you are free to copy them.But the descriptive narratives are my creative work product and are copyrighted.You may copy them for your personal use, but please respect my copyright and do not republish them in any form without written permission. Many of the images are also copyrighted, and may not be copied without the consent of the copyright holders